NYTimes- Trump Enga...
 
Notifications
Clear all

NYTimes- Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes and Fraud as He Reaped Riches From His Father

17 Posts
11 Users
66 Likes
1,809 Views
(@lovendures)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 4460
Topic starter  

This is VERY big!! A VERY detailed article from the NY Times .  Will it make a difference?  Who knows. But Somebody is going to be very angry...

NY TIMES -The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage


   
ReplyQuote
 Baba
(@baba)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 899
 

I felt compelled to read the whole article last night before going to bed. It is full of damning details about how the entire family has spent decades gaming the system to underpay taxes. In my opinion it just shows that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and that there is an ingrained culture of cheating the authorities within this family. It is no wonder that the president thinks he can get away with whatever he wants if he has been doing this for decades. I don’t think this will change anyone’s mind, but it casts a spotlight on his siblings that they will find unwelcome and provides more context for how we arrived at the current situation. I understand that the administration has already issued a statement condemning the article. Expect more distraction in the near future!


   
ReplyQuote
(@mas1581)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 808
 

Hearing NY is going to open an investigation into this. If tax fraud is what brings him down, that would be beaitiful irony. It started with his refusal to release his taxes amd ends with him crashing down from them. 


   
SDJ, LalaBella, VestraLux and 9 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@codyroo)
Noble Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 186
 

From my listening to Rachel Maddow and Morning Joe, the statute of limitations for criminal charges is past, however not for civil penalties, which is what the State of New York is now pursuing.  This, in conjuction with other state investigations, is likely what will bring down the "Trump Empire" financially.

I wonder if Trump's base can handle the fact that they got conned.  Some voted for him because he was a successful businessman, billionaire, and would make great deals.  In fact, he's a trust fund baby, a multi-time bankrupt businessman, and a con artist who's convinced many that he's really a successful brander and businessman.

I guess all they are going to have left is "draining the swamp" and "he's not a politician".  And Mueller is the one draining the swamp.


   
SDJ and SDJ reacted
ReplyQuote
(@mas1581)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 808
 

Trump's base will never leave his side. The problem with his current supporters is they are either reaping the financial benefits from him(1%) or just love the "white men are persecuted, down with the women and brown people" rhetoric(the other 99%).

People who voted for him could have done so for many reasons but anyone who still sticks by him with nothing to personally gain is just a racist, misogynist, or has been fully brainwashed and this wont stop them. Anyone with a mind of their own has left the Trump GOP and become independant.

That said, image is everything to him and this is going to really piss him off. Hes stupid to begin with but when he gets pissed, the stupid intensifies exponentially, which will lead to his downfall. 


   
SDJ, LalaBella, SDJ and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
 
Posted by: MAS1581

Trump's base will never leave his side. 

Agree, and Hitler still has followers too all over the world.  But Hitler did fall, and he fell hard. 


   
SDJ and SDJ reacted
ReplyQuote
(@enkasongwriter)
Famed Member Participant
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 517
 

Jeanne, do you see, in the future, that there will be another right-wing wave similar to the one we see in 2016? Will it lead to a third world war?


   
ReplyQuote
(@mas1581)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 808
 

Jeanne, he will definitely fall. Hitler fell because he got impatient and fought a 2 sided war(some say parkinsons caused that but I think it was him seeing ineptitude in his allies and getting power greedy). Trump will fall faster and harder because he doss not have the intellect Hitler did. Hitler was much more dangerous to succeed than Trump ever was because Trump is too stupid to be able to still pull it off when people start revolting. Hes Mussolini at absolute best. 


   
ReplyQuote
(@laura-f)
Illustrious Member Participant
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 2137
 
Posted by: MAS1581

Jeanne, he will definitely fall. Hitler fell because he got impatient and fought a 2 sided war(some say parkinsons caused that but I think it was him seeing ineptitude in his allies and getting power greedy). Trump will fall faster and harder because he doss not have the intellect Hitler did. Hitler was much more dangerous to succeed than Trump ever was because Trump is too stupid to be able to still pull it off when people start revolting. Hes Mussolini at absolute best. 

There's also a historical argument that Hitler was tweaked out on amphetamines starting in the early 30s. If true, he would have been even more paranoid and aggressive, which explains a lot.


   
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
 
Posted by: Enkasongwriter

Jeanne, do you see, in the future, that there will be another right-wing wave similar to the one we see in 2016? Will it lead to a third world war?

Enkasongwriter, Thanks for your question. If you mean by right-wing wave,  an election that gives the GOP a majority in Congress or executive  branch - then we are still in the midst of a right wing wave now and I think we will see it continue, although blue is rising. We  might see more blue representatives in the House, but I can't tell yet if the House will have a blue majority.    That is because the election system in the U.S. is heavily biased towards the GOP.   The only way we can get a blue wave in the election result is to have (1) a landslide for the blues at the polls to overcome the GOP voter suppression and redistricting , and (2) no hacking of votes in the polls by the GOP.   I read recently that the GOP legislatures are already working on more voter suppression techniques. 

Bluebelle sees a blue surge to the polls which might mean that we'd have the blue landslide we need to push the blues into the majority.  I have seen a purple House and I pulled the Star Card (thoth tarot) which is all blue and purple. But it's not for sure in my mind until I see it. Bright Opal is another of our more reliable readers.  She isn't sure either whether there's a blue win in the House. I think we need to put our heads together and read it one more time before the Midterms. 

When we actually read the preferences of the U.S. population, we get a blue wave of preference. But as I said, that's not easily turned into a blue majority in Congress because the election system is not one person-one vote in this country. The U.S election system is the most biased towards the right in the free world. 

We haven't even gotten to the question of poll hacking (changing votes after they are cast) which we don't know for sure is happening, but we know it is easy to do. And I believe the GOP will do anything they can to hold their power. But we have to do everything we can to get people to the polls, and to get them to get a paper copy of their ballot (which means in some states, they have to vote early or vote absentee ballot). 

I don't think we will have a world war, though.  I haven't seen it yet anyway in my meditations. 

If anyone reading this gets discouraged, please don't!  We  have our work cut out for us.  We will overcome this situation.  It took a long time to get this bad, and it will take a lot of effort to turn it around.  But it will eventually turn around.  The lower the GOP goes, the more they dig their party's grave. My feeling is that by the time we finally get a blue Congress and Executive branch,  we will be re-constructing our whole election system. We might even eliminate the Senate so we no longer have the unrepresentative government we now have.  

But I felt that would start in 2028 -- the complete turnaround  and surge upward towards the light. Then there is all the migration we will be seeing and the rise of local government with climate change dominating the national agenda.

 

 


   
RosieHeart, SDJ, Bee and 5 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@codyroo)
Noble Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 186
 

As far as poll hacking goes, I see this as the likely, low tech way of doing it.  The GOP has really defined itself as the ends justify the means and that of party over country.  No trick is too dirty so long as it advances their agenda and keeps them in power.  And the whole while, they'd see themselves as patriots, not traitors for doing so.

A total lack of integrity.


   
SDJ, Jeanne Mayell, SDJ and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@adora)
Estimable Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 18
 

I feel Jeanne is right.  I'm not sensing any panic amongst the GOP despite the polls.  At best I think you may get a blue house of representatives this election, and it will be a hard won victory at that. It's not just the US - it's a world wide fight atm.  You can see it in Europe clearly, as well as here in Canada where Doug Ford has just taken the Ontario conservative party to a hard right and Quebec had elected Legault.  I don't have the gifts you have - but I do sense that this is a peak and as disheartening as another 10 years sounds, remember it's been building up and in the works since the 80's.  10 years to come to a complete crash down for this right wing movement is actually not that long in retrospect.  On the bright side, the left wave will be just as long if not longer and imagine all the good things that can come of that for people and the environment :)


   
RosieHeart, SDJ, Unk p and 5 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@rowsella)
Noble Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 177
 

I am very discouraged, disheartened and depressed about this. I don't know how I cannot be. I am losing faith in my fellow citizens. It's like they are all turning into mercenary nazis idolizing a greedy cheating narcissist. They are hailing Ceasar. It makes me sick. 


   
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
 

Rowsella, I am not saying that it won't turn around. It's a matter of when..  No one has a handle on this timing including me.  

I see so much positive energy rising up already.  And more coming.  I spoke of gerrymandering causing so much bias.  Well, in Michigan there is a citizens' petition on the November ballot to take redistricting out of the hands of the politicians altogether. If it passes, the GOP will lose gerrymandering as a way to bias the election.  Other states may follow suit, so that by  2020, it's possible that gerrymandering will be vastly reduced. 

Also the federal government is not the determinant of our happiness.  So many good things are  coming at the local level.  

I am very hopeful about our situation.   I also take the long view.   I hope we see a huge blue victory in November.  If we don't, I know we are on the way.  

Progressives are rising up and fighting back throughout this time.  Also local governments are getting more progressive than ever. Keep your eye on California and New York, for example, for progressive governments the size of whole countries.  

Women are rising up like never before. Maybe the big turnaround will be 2025.  Maybe earlier.  But the GOP, which is a world-wide force of moneyed power mongers, is not going to just lie down and surrender the U.S. in November and not necessarily in 2020.  

Before you get discouraged, remember this: The worse it gets, the more powerful and long lasting will be the turnaround when it happens. 

One more thing: we are not here on earth to win a battle against other humans.  We are here to win a battle within our Selves. We are here to evolve. 

 


   
RosieHeart, Marley, SDJ and 3 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jaidy)
Noble Member Registered
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 188
 

If you've ever read the Bhagavad Gita, I believe it has a powerful message for the here and now,  Arjuna is a warrior and  he realizes the battle will be against those he cares about, his family and neighbors- he doesn't want to. Krishna (Vishnu) comes and encourages him in battle- this is not a sinful battle, he is righteous. Anyway, they win because Arjuna has surrendered to the supreme being and can live his life in a better way. 


   
RosieHeart, Jeanne Mayell, RosieHeart and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@jeanne-mayell)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 7907
 

The Bhagavad Gita is a good book to be reading these days. Jaidy, thank you for bringing it up.  For those unfamiliar with it, it is an epic allegory that  is about a battle within the Self--  between the Divine Self (Krishna - Vishnu) and the conscious Self (Arjuna). 


   
Unk p, RosieHeart, Unk p and 1 people reacted
ReplyQuote
(@stargazer)
Illustrious Member Registered
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 601
 

Jeanne... I picked up a copy of "Be Here Now" recently, and after so many years it still resonates with light.

One of the tools that have come to me to dispell some of the outrage that I've been feeling lately..... (understatement).

A certain passage stays with me:

' The spiritual teacher told his disciple to take a chicken and kill it where no one sees...

The disciple returned with the chicken and told him: " I could not do this, because everywhere I go, the chicken sees."

Lol


   
RosieHeart, Marley, Unk p and 5 people reacted
ReplyQuote
Share: